THE BRAKE WHEEL ASSEMBLY

The hand brake unit is fairly easy to make. I used .052 brass rod for the staff and threaded each end. I used brass brake wheels, too. First I drilled a clearance hole through the center, then I mounted the wheel with a nut below and above.

If you prefer to buy rather than build, Shortline Car & Foundry makes a D&RGW brakewheel and hardware set (their part number 3385) including the wheel, rod, stirrup, and ratchet/pawl.

I formed the stirrup from 1/4-inch brass channel. It is wider than it should be but no channel of the exact width is available. Figure 1 shows the construction details of the brake wheels, staffs, and stirrups.

Cut a piece of channel longer than necessary and grind or cut away the unwanted portion of the back side. Bend the sides to form a double thick bottom strap. Solder it together, then drill and tap it 0-80. Drill four holes in the back so you can pin it to the end sill.

I used a Grandt Line ratchet and pawl casting and drilled it to clear the staff. Before you assemble the pieces, I suggest prepainting them. And remember: You'll need an assembly for each end of the caboose.

COUPLER LIFT BAR

Rio Grande cabooses had what may be the weirdest coupler lift bar ever designed. Figure 2 illustrates it. It actually involves two separate bars moving as one, and they have some crazy bends. Unfortunately, nobody seems to offer lift bars for the D&RGW caboose so we'll have to build our own. Duplicating them is not simple but the resulting metalwork seems to add enough to the model to make the effort worthwhile.

I used a brass nibbler to narrow 1/4-inch strip stock to the correct width of .085-inch. I was careful to leave a little extra material around the pivot pin area. Use a pliers to bend up the inner bar, and you'll need to do a lot of "eyeballing" on this little assembly. Modify the shape of the bar to fit the coupler you're using.

It helped to hold things together during assembly. I threaded the .052-inch pivot shaft 0-80 and also threaded the shaft holes in the bars. Then, I put a little epoxy on the threads and screwed the unit together. Drill a tight shaft hole in the end beam and epoxy the unit in place.

I found epoxy more convenient to use than solder for this part of the construction.

THE SMOKEJACK

Now that you have finished the lift bars, you may be happy to learn it is unnecessary to build your own smokejack. Shortline Car & Foundry offers part 5090 in the correct scale. If, on the other hand, you are still itching to do things yourself, you may build a smokejack as I did. Styrene or wood would do just fine but, again, I chose brass. I used 1/4-inch and 7/16-inch tubing and .005-inch shim stock.

Cut the two pieces of tubing to length so the 1/4-inch tube can extend all the way through the larger tube and both can project through the roof down to the top beam of the cabin wall. Figure 3 shows how everything should go together. Use three or four short pieces of scrap wood to hold the smaller tube in position inside the larger. Epoxy them together.

Now let's go to the skirt. Use a compass to lay out a circle on the brass shim stock with a radius of .400-inch and remove the center 1/4-inch. Figure 4 has an illustration. Cut out the circle with metal snips and make one cut straight in to the center. Form the piece into a cone with your fingers. Soon you'll notice the ends overlap so when you arrive at the right shape, remove the excess overlap, but leave a little for soldering as in Figure 5. After you have soldered the ends together, file out the central hole to an exact fit around the top tube of the smokejack and slip on the skirt. Be sure to do that before attaching the top of the smokejack.

I fashioned the top from a .900- by .600-inch piece of shim and formed the bend over a hard, round object. I went a little farther than 180 degrees to allow for spring-back. Figure 6 shows the process.

Snip off the excess metal and put a little curve in the tabs where you will solder them to the tube. For easy soldering, the piece should grip the 1/4-inch tube tightly enough to stay in place without help. Solder, then clean up the shape with a fine file.

Cut a snug 7/16-inch hole in the roof and shape it so the stack will stand straight. Sheet metal flashing where the smokejack goes through the roof is optional. Figure 3 shows where it would go. Some long cabooses had flashing, some had none. If you add it, use shim stock one inch square, cut a snug 7/16-inch hole in the center, and epoxy it to the roof.

To anchor the smokejack more securely, glue scrap wood to the underside of the roof around the hole. I recommend installing the smokejack last because it projects above the cupola and creates problems when you turn the car upside down to work on it.

The easiest way to make the smokejack brace is with .006- by 1/16-inch or similar strip from the HO section of your local hobby shop. Thicker stock is too stiff. Cut a strip longer than necessary as in Figure 7. Bend it at the center to fit around the smokejack and epoxy that portion in place being sure its location is directly opposite the cupola, parallel to the roof, and aims at the point above the window where the two long cabs attach. Join the two arms of the stack brace. Again, the best glue for the job is epoxy. The best clamp is a piece of scrap strip with a 180 degree bend; it should work like a clothespin. Figure 8 shows how. Squeeze and flare the ends and slip it over the brace next to the smokejack as in Figure 7.

When the glue has set, measure the distance from the smokejack to the cupola and bend right angles in the brace arms to fit. Trim the tabs to length and put a little epoxy on each. Epoxy the smokejack in place and position the ends of the brace against the cupola. The smokejack will be a tight fit and will take a bit of wiggling to fit in place before the glue sets but the stack brace is a detail worth the effort.

ODDS, ENDS, AND FINISH

If you have prepainted all the sub-assemblies, now is the time to touch up any chips, scratches, or bare spots. Some areas are easier to reach with a brush but, if you have a delicate touch, you may be able to apply a more even coat to other areas with an airbrush.

When you are satisfied with the basic coloring, and after the paint has dried for a day or two, it's time to add decals or dry transfers. The lettering on my model reflects my own road name. If you want correct Rio Grande lettering, Microscale offers excellent decals in 1:24 scale and OR's art director, Larry Larsen, makes beautiful dry transfers in 1:22.5 or any other scale you may prefer.

After you have applied the lettering, airbrush the caboose with Testor's Dullcote for a flat finish or a 50-50 mixture of Dullcote and Glosscote for a satin finish (as on a newly painted car). That will help protect the lettering and give a more even appearance to the paint.

Now, also, is the time to weather the model. The weathering on mine is very subtle. Russ Reinberg airbrushed a dilute mixture of Floquil Grimy Black and Floquil's Diosol thinner onto the roof, underbody, and lower edges of the sides and ends. It is the appropriate color for grime on Rio Grande equipment because it represents both soot and the dark gray/brown dust from the railroad's cinder ballast. For railroads in other areas, a dilute mixture of Diosol and Floquil Earth or Dust may be a more appropriate color for the lower part of the car. Whatever you do, understate the weathering. You may always add more but, once it is on, it is almost impossible to remove.

You could create far more sophisticated weathering effects than we applied. Experts have written books on the subject. But even our simple method was very effective and added much to the overall realism of the caboose.

If you built your caboose with a removable roof, add the glass to the windows now.

EPILOGUE

I hope this series has been a helpful experience for you. I have tried to provide enough guidance to encourage your tackling such a large project and to lead you to a fine enough finished product to justify the time and the hassle. I have tried make you think about each step so you could learn why we did it as we did. And, even though we may be modeling the same caboose, so much room exists for individual expression, I have tried to encourage you to go a step beyond what you might initially have felt was comfortable.

I also wanted to provide a breadth of help, even if you had no plans to build a Rio Grande caboose specifically. Most of the techniques apply to model building in general so I hope you have picked up enough new ones to tackle several other kinds of projects.

Finally, to those of you now finishing a caboose, congratulations! I hope you have derived a lot of satisfaction and pride in the model you have created. May your tail-end-charlie roll many a mile!